What Can We Learn From Google Moderator?

Google recently launched a tool that allows users to ask questions to specific groups around the world. Whether it be a presidential candidate or an employee of Google, Google Moderator allows you to ask questions that either have a great deal of meaning or will just kill the curiosity you may have. Once we get beyond sorting through questions regarding the economy to our presidential candidates or tech questions to Google engineers there is a fundamental principle here, questions go unanswered everyday, or never get answered to meet the requirements of the user asking. We can read blogs or wikis to figure out others opinions on situations but most would like to see the answer coming straight from the source.

So what does this mean for your business? Are you providing a destination where users can feel free to openly ask questions either regarding your market or your specific services?

In looking at the results of this new tool it can also be seen that many people share similar if not identical questions. With that, a question that has been asked by a previous client might have some meaning to a prospective client. Adjusting your techniques to provide valuable FAQ’s will make your site a destination for valuable answers and a place where people can feel comfortable sending their questions.

From here your marketing efforts could concentrate on displaying this atmosphere of solutions. If you have a blog site you could dedicate a post just too answering questions that may appear in your comments, or daily questions that arise in the work day. Record everything, and spread it through different forms, whether this is your website or blog. This allows you to become a resource in the eyes of your market, leading to a greater reach and possible traffic in your community. Finding new ways to connect and expand your reach is a goal most should share in this present time.

Internally a tool like this for your business could benefit greatly. If questions arise daily through employees, rather than them getting tossed on the backburner or not getting a suffice answer, provide a destination where people can place their questions. Also allowing others to contribute or rank a question can lead to finding where problems may lie in your business or even the development of new ideas. Dedicate some time weekly or monthly to your employee’s questions, not only will you gather knowledge on where your employees stand but you’re extending the thought that your work environment is still a learning environment. Questions posed by one employee may be questions a second employee finds very useful but has never brought to the attention of others.

Don’t let questions go unanswered, becoming the source for solutions in your market can potentially lead to increased exposure.